Craig Edwards
AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC
Appalachian, Blues, Bluegrass, Cajun, Celtic, Early Country, Folk, Swing, Zydeco
Whew! What a busy Spring! Just returned from the second Connecticut Sea Music Festival in Essex, CT, where I worked the the historical demonstration/reenactment group Dirty Blue Shirts showcasing maritime skills and sailor customs from the Age of Sail. I'm hard at work on writing a history of sea chanteys (Title: The Secret History of Sailor Chanteys) for Reaktion Press, the popular publishing arm of University of Chicago Press, to be completed by year's end. I've started teaching for an arts/culture/community non-profit in Westerly, Rhode Island, the UnitedTheater, which coordinates with the local schools, string orchestra, and the non-profit Knickerbocker Music Center (formerly the Knickerbocker Cafe) They responded enthusiastically when I asked if they would be interested in a Roots Music Program, so I'll be teaching fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, button accordion, and group classes in old time string band, Irish music, and Cajun music. I had a great contradance tour with with the Dead Sea Squirrels, and I've got a busy concert, festival, bar, dance, and farmer's market, and recording schedule coming up this summer. And if anyone is interested in buying my recent sea music recording, "Alone on the Wide Wide Sea: Solo Sailor Songs," you can find it on BandCamp. As I said - whew!
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TOUR
Louisiana Field Seminar with the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program April 1-5, 2019
The Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate semester run by Williams College and based at Mystic Seaport Museum, America's premier maritime history museum. Students take courses in Marine Biology, Maritime History, Oceanography, Literature of the Sea, and Maritime Policy. The extraordinary collections, documents, and historic ships and buildings at Mystic Seaport serve as their waterfront campus, but they also venture out on several field seminars: two weeks at sea aboard a traditional sailing research vessel, and trips to the Pacific Coast and Louisiana.
For several years I've been asked along on the Louisiana field seminar to serve as a "cultural liason," introducing students to Cajun music and dance, meeting (and dancing to the music of) traditional Cajun musicians, and giving a lecture on the history of Louisiana's rich musical culture. Louisiana offers a unique chance to look at the dynamic and complex intersections of geography, environment, resources, culture, policy, and history, and the rich musical tapestry there reflects this background. If you know any college students who are looking for an interesting, challenging and varied experience in a "semester abroad," have them take a look at this cutting-edge interdisciplinary program. It changes people's lives:
https://mystic.williams.edu/
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